Dental Science Gives Hopes To Spinal Injury Victims

Those who suffer from all sorts of spinal chord injury now have got a hope for recovery and gaining more freedom of movement as a new treatment based on the findings of recent studies of dental care specialists is about to emerge. In particular, during a research conducted by a group of experts by Nagoya University in Japan, it was found out that by using certain compounds extracted from dental pulp it can be quite possible to fix injured and broken backs, helping to improve the condition and regain some movements in the legs. The findings were recently reported in the Mirror and other popular mass media.

The experiments with lab rats have shown that certain compounds of dental pulp can not only stop the nerve cells from damage, but even stimulate their regeneration. Moreover, this sort of compounds can stimulate the development of other cells and tissues that play a role in supporting the back and its proper function. It is an absolutely new and revolutionary approach which can open new horizons in modern stem cell medicine, and the scientists have really great hopes about it.

In particular, the authors of the study report underlined the following: ‘We propose that tooth-derived stem cells may be an excellent and practical cellular resource for the treatment of spinal cord injuries.’ According to the Dr Mark Bacon, research director at the charity Spinal Research, possible clinical uses of the findings and the opportunities to develop an effective technology based on the findings will be analyzed very shortly. However, he also talked about possible difficulties and drawbacks of creating an effective treatment using this approach.

In particular, he said that the necessity to transplant the dental pulp compounds into the injured area immediately can cause certain difficulties. ‘This is not possible in patients, particularly if the cells are to be taken post-injury from the patient and purified,’ he said. It will certainly take some time before the technology is created, tested and approved, however, numerous people who suffer from various types of spinal chord injury are looking forward to this innovation and have great hopes for it. It is estimated that every year, about 12 hundred people in the United Kingdom receive serious spinal chord injury, and about 40 thousand Brits are already trying to cope with this serious health condition.

Tags: dental pulp, spinal chord injury